By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii tailback Charles Tharp tries to elude Air Force's
Ron Jenkins Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.
’Bows’ bye:
Hello, recruits
Unlike last year, Fred vonAppen's
By Paul Arnett
assistants are able to take advantage of
the off week to search for new talent
Star-BulletinEven though his future with the football program is unclear, University of Hawaii head coach Fred vonAppen approached this bye week as business as usual. He sent seven of his assistants on a recruiting mission to get bigger and better players so moral victories won't be the order of the day.
The Rainbows are coming off a 34-27 Western Athletic Conference loss to the Air Force Academy, guaranteeing them their fifth consecutive year without a winning record.
Hawaii emerged from what vonAppen called the murderers' row part of the schedule with a victory and several close calls. Beginning with the 63-0 debacle at Colorado State -- something that still baffles vonAppen -- and ending with Saturday's league loss to the Falcons, the Rainbows finished 1-4 in five grueling weeks.
That doesn't constitute a victory parade, but considering what happened last year, it's deserving of at least one float. In 1996, Hawaii lost to Brigham Young, San Diego State and Air Force by a combined score of 135-29. This season, Hawaii had a chance to win against all three of those opponents before losing by a combined score of 61-33.
It's not exactly reason to break out a bottle of Dom Perignon and a box of Havana cigars.
"But it does show we're a more competitive football team than we were a year ago," vonAppen said. "We knew we were a better team this year. We just didn't know how that would translate into wins and losses."
The 1997 recruiting class has been a major contributor to the Rainbows' improved play over last year. With that in mind, vonAppen needs an even better class to offset the loss of 30-something seniors, including three starters on offense and six on defense.
Hawaii has a bye this week, allowing vonAppen to begin the first major phase of recruiting. There are many unsettled issues between vonAppen and the UH administration, but both sides will try to iron out the contract differences this week.
It's important they do so, and quickly, because rival recruiters could use the Rainbows' unsettled coaching situation against them. VonAppen sent seven of his nine assistants on the recruiting trail. He said there is some keen interest in the Rainbows locally and nationally.
"There are some encouraging signs in recruiting," vonAppen said yesterday. "But at some point in time in recruiting, somebody is going to pop the question, 'Coach, are you going to be there?' And I can't answer that. So we need to resolve this issue, one way or the other, and quickly, for the good of the program."
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii receiver Johnny Macon pulls up in the end zone
after scoring a touchdown in the closing minute of Saturday
night's game at Aloha Stadium. Air Force recovered the
ensuing onside kick to hold on for a 34-27 victory.
VonAppen is holding discussions with UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida and school president Kenneth Mortimer. They are reviewing a variety of issues, but chief among them is a contract extension.VonAppen only has 14 months left on his three-year contract. It is likely many members of his staff and some players would jump ship if an agreement isn't reached. The next major meeting with the Board of Regents is Nov. 13-14, where Mortimer likely will present his proposal for official approval.
Over the past few months, Mortimer has said he wants to limit the coaching turnover that plagued the team this decade. Look for him to recommend a two-year extension, giving vonAppen the standard five years most mainland coaches have to turn around an ailing program.
The loss of television money that was part of vonAppen's original contract also must be settled, but Mortimer has promised that will be handled before year's end.
Meanwhile, vonAppen has to keep one eye on this season and the other gazing into the future in preparation for 1998. UH will play nonconference games against Michigan, Northwestern and Arizona, and tough league matchups with BYU, Southern Methodist and Utah.
"The bye comes at a good time recruiting-wise. I'm not sure playing-wise, other than it gives us a chance to heal," vonAppen said. "We've got seven coaches out to work the nine recruiting days of October and November. We're going to junior colleges and high schools.
"We need to get transcripts and talk to people about character checks. We didn't get a chance to do this last year during a bye week, so that's good. We feel like this is a good year in the state of Hawaii and we're in with some guys. Whether we stay in it with them until the end, I can't tell you.
"A lot of them have come to games and act very positive. They're still considering us. They want to visit and that's good. We've also gotten good reception elsewhere geographically, particularly places we've been before and recruited successfully. So there are some positive signs."
The Rainbows likely will finish last in the Pacific Division for the third time in four years. They complete league play at San Jose State on Nov. 15 before rounding out the 1997 season against Northeast Louisiana and Notre Dame at home.
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